Maybe the drinks were stronger than I thought. Or maybe I was just tired of fighting every instinct, every warning that told me to pull away.
Because for a moment… I didn’t want to.
Instead, I wondered what it would feel like to melt into this tall, hard, dangerous body. What would it feel like to have him underneath me, on top of me, holding me?
“And what happens,” I asked, my tone getting bolder, “if I don’t want to be free of you?”
He leaned back just enough to look at me. One corner of his mouth lifted, his gaze sharpening. Something darker and tantalizing flickering down at me.
Hunger.
And for once, I didn’t flinch. I held his stare, curious instead of afraid.
Even with no answer, we kept moving to the beat, unhurried. No pressure. No push for more. The words just hung there in the moment.
It was strange, the ease I felt with him, and I didn’t even know his name.
“What do people call you?” I asked, wanting to rectify that small insignificant detail.
He took that pause to spin me, pulling me back in tight before dipping me low and bringing me upright again. His forehead brushed mine, his deep midnight eyes filling my vision.
“You can call me Cal.” His tongue flicked lightly against one fang as he smiled, and something low in my stomach tightened.
“Via,” I said. That was enough. I was trying to be at least a little cautious about this.
“So, Via…” he drawled, easily guiding me back into the rhythm. “Are you always this set on causing dick-related trouble, or is tonight special?”
I huffed a quiet laugh. “We were celebrating.”
His interest sharpened, so I continued. “Something I built actually worked. Made me proud.” The words came easier than they should have. “Then John showed up and…” I tipped my head back, flashing him a sweet, dangerous smile. “We couldn’t help ourselves.”
The song shifted to the next ,which started slow, then built to a higher tempo.
Letting the music take over, I turned, and his hips followed the beat as I spun around in front of him.
His hands found my hips, steady and sure, drawing me back against him. He effortlessly matched my movement, guiding without forcing.
I leaned into it, into him. My arms lifted, settling around his neck like they belonged there. The lights pulsed around us, fading in and out as the music rose.
For once, I stopped thinking, stopped planning, and just let it happen.
The music shifted again, slipping between fast and slow, and he turned me in his arms. One hand cupped my cheek, the other resting lightly at my throat as his forehead pressed to mine. His breath came soft, uneven.
“It’s the fifth song,” he murmured, his thumb slowly tracing along my neck, unraveling my thoughts one stroke at a time. “Have you decided to ditch me yet?”
My heart stumbled.
Around us, the room pulsed, but the heat, the bodies, the noise, none of it felt real anymore. Not when I was pressed against something so cold and dangerous.
His hold wasn’t tight. Not trapping. He wasn’t forcing me to stay, and that almost made it worse because if I stayed, then it wasmychoice.
Am I really going to spend the night with a supe?
A familiar voice, the one that usually kept me safe, stirred in the back of my mind, reminding me what men like him were capable of.
Vampire. Predator. Danger.
But it sounded distant, faint, like it was already losing. Another thought slipped in, quieter… heavier.
